An assignment for school in which we had to create a fictional race of people, then write about them. During a war between the Eutrians and the Talons, two captains from each side seem to fall in love...but will the war come in between them?

Author's note: This story was an assignment for creative writing class in which we not only created a species of our own, but had them interact with the members of another classmate's species. Therefore, to give credit where such is due, not all of this story is entirely mine. I created the Eutrians and everything pertaining to their civilization, but must thank Daniel D. for the contributions of the Talons, their habitat and civilization, their special abilities, and the name of the character Thor. Also, thanks to Lisa W. for the name of the planet Sephiscon.

Elgana surveyed the
lush, verdant landscape that was covered in green and interspersed
irregularly with trees and plants of varying sizes. At the present it
seemed tranquil, serene, and an odd place in which to fight a war.
But the planet Sephiscon, despite its vast and beautiful foliage, was
exactly where her people, the Eutrians, were now at war with the
Talons, the natives of Sephiscon. The Talon civilization had several
rich, fabulous cities that they had built up throughout many parts of
the sphere; they also had a wealth of resources, minerals, and other
items that the Eutrians took an interest to. In only a matter of
time, she hoped, the Talons would fall and her people would be
victorious.

The Eutrians were
natives of Earth, but they were not human and lived their lives
excluded from human civilization on uncharted islands in the middle
of the ocean. In some aspects of their civilization they were fairly
primitive, making buildings still primarily of stone, using weapons
of wood and crude metal. Some of their technology, however, was quite
advanced, more so than that of the humans. Their transportation, for
example, resembled that of something from a futuristic story and was
quite capable of transporting mass numbers of Eutrians from Earth to
other faraway planets, such as Sephiscon. The Eutrians had first come
to Sephiscon about a year ago on an exploratory mission; seeking to
claim more land for themselves and having immediately developed
hostile relations with the Talons, more Eutrians had been sent to the
planet and the two races had gone to war.

So that's where they
were now. Elgana had been made a captain in the Eutrian army and was
currently on Sephiscon, guarding the primary base that her people had
set up. As far as they knew, the Talon were unaware of the location
of their base, but one never knew when certain information would
accidentally leak out and a surprise attack would come; therefore, as
a precautionary measure, the base had to be guarded at all times.
Elgana had been standing on watch for several hours without incident,
and it was past time for the next watchman to come and relieve her of
her shift. She growled lowly in frustration. Where was Chent?

"Anything to
report?" Chent asked from behind her, as if in response to her
unspoken query.

She turned around to
see Chent, his gray corporal's tunic concealing most of the orange
flesh that was characteristic to every male of their species. His
bright blue hair was close-cut and three of his four arms held long,
pointed spears. Having grown tired of holding her post, Chent was a
welcome sight. "No, Chent, nothing to report," Elgana answered.
"What took you so long?"

"I apologize for my
tardiness; it was my responsibility to see to the disposal of enemy
bodies and the task took longer than I had anticipated. We had
thirty-eight this cycle."

Elgana nodded in
acknowledgement. Yes, that task certainly was of more importance than
her continued comfort and desire to be relived of her post. A
startling truth that the Eutrians had realized soon after war first
broke out was that the Talons possessed an uncanny natural ability:
even though they died, they could be resurrected if touched by
another member of their species. This would seem to give the Talons
an obvious upper hand, but the Eutrians had figured out a way around
it. Whenever a battle took place between the two races, some soldiers
would be assigned specifically to pick up bodies of fallen Talons and
bring them back to the Eutrian base before any other Talon could
revive them. The bodies were kept in complete isolation at the base
for a while, but whenever enough bodies were collected or a few weeks
had gone by, one of the Eutrians would fly somewhere outside of
Sephiscon's orbit and release the bodies in deep space, where they
would never again feel the spark of life. Of course the Eutrians
could not get to all the slain Talons in time and despite their best
efforts, some were indeed revived after they were killed. Even so,
their system had certainly helped to even the odds.

"And were you
successful, Corporal?" Elgana asked.

"I was, Captain,"
Chent answered.

"Well done."
Noting the spears he carried, she added, "I see you're well
prepared to take guard duty today."

"As always,
Captain."

"Very good. Carry
on, then." With these words Elgana departed from her post but did
not retreat into the base. Under normal circumstances procedure would
have required her to return to base for the night, but not tonight.
Tonight, Elgana had another mission—a secret mission that did not
belong to the entire Eutrian army but was hers alone. Trying her best
to be stealthy, even though it was not one of the Eutrians' strong
suits, she made her way along the side of the building to a small
hovercraft which she had used so many times that it had unofficially
become her own. Quickly hopping into the craft and starting it up,
she used two of her arms to steer and rested the other two on her
lap, heading towards her designated meeting place.

She navigated
skillfully through the complex labyrinth of trees and vines, but did
so unconsciously, the task so familiar that it required little
attention for her. Instead, her thoughts were focused on one
thing—and one person—only. As she approached her destination, his
figure became visible, and grew larger in perspective. His shape was
tall and imposing, blue in both skin and hair, but wrapped in a
contrasting cloak of resplendent red, which the Talons used to
signify authority and importance. She landed the hovercraft and ran
to him; noticing her and responding with joy, he ran to her as well.
The two met together in sweet embrace.

"Elgana," the
Talon sergeant whispered endearingly.

"Thor," she
replied as her four arms covered him. "Here I am; now we are
together again."

Even if you looked at
them without knowing that their two peoples were at war with each
other, the sight was quite a contrast. Thor the Talon sergeant was
fairly humanoid with a large figure and blue all around, while
Elgana, the Eutrian captain who was presently locked in his embrace,
had violet skin, bright yellow hair, and a more slender frame with
twice as many arms. The two had met once by chance while off duty,
had become intrigued with each other, and had been seeing each other
sporadically since. Of course if it had been publicly known that they
were in love, things would never have worked out; fortunately, the
secret had been kept safe from other Talon officials.

"I've missed you,
Elgana," Thor said softly.

"How long has it
been since we were last together?" she asked, trying to remember.
"Two weeks? Three?"

"Too long," Thor
replied. The conversation paused for a moment, and then he added, "I
love you."

"I know," she
answered. "I…I care about you, too."

Thor grimaced
noticeably. When they had first met a few months ago, everything that
Elgana had said and done when they were together had made it seem
that she loved him. Since then, however, she had admitted to having
guilt at living a secret life and had said that she was not sure
whether she could ever love someone with whom her people were at war.
These words had hurt, but Thor and Elgana had continued to meet
together even so, still apparently caring greatly for each other even
if they could not be in love. Each time they met like this Thor
treasured the time they had together but also desperately wished that
Elgana would make up her mind and that she would, indeed, say she
loved him. Perhaps tonight…

"We should keep
things short tonight," Elgana said. "You know it's not safe for
us to be near each other."Thor sighed. As much as he hated it,
he knew she was right. "I would love to spend the whole night here
with you," he said. "But you're right—it's not safe. Don't
think that just because I know I love you, I don't have the same
conflicts you do about loving someone who is an enemy to my people.
Every time I come here with you I feel ashamed because I'm being
disloyal to the Talons…but I can't stay away from you, because
then I would be disloyal to my love for you."

"I've felt the
same way," she commented, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But
don't worry. I know where my loyalties lie, and I won't let
anything stand in the way. I'll do whatever is necessary."

"Then…you do love
me?"

"I…I can't say,"
she uttered with apparent difficulty.

They were both silent
for a few moments; Thor wasn't sure what to say after that sort of
letdown. But he decided not to dwell on it and to change the
subject—there was something else he needed to ask her, anyway.

"Elgana, I need to
tell you something," Thor began.

"Yes?"

"The generals have
seen my progress in battle, and they think I'm a very skilled
warrior. I have a lot of potential, they've said. They're
thinking of promoting me, but I've got to do something to show that
I'm really as good as they think I am."

"I can see this is
going somewhere," Elgana told him. "What are you saying?"

"Elgana, for me to
get promoted to commander, I've got to somehow uncover the Eutrian
storehouse of deceased Talon bodies."

She could sense the
sincerity in his voice. This was partially for him, but his motives
were largely for the good of his own people. It almost saddened her
that she wouldn't be able to do anything for him.

"Thor, I'm sorry,
but--"

Surprisingly, she
heard him raise his voice. He rarely did it, but she could tell he
was quite passionate about this. "Elgana, every time I go out into
battle, I see my people, my brothers and sisters, mercilessly slain
right in front of me. I see their bodies lifeless on the ground, and
how I wish I could resurrect them! I run to a fallen body, but I
don't make it in time—your people are faster, and my comrade's
body, the body that I could revive, is taken away. This has
happened so many times…" His mental defenses were slowly giving
way to oncoming tears. "And every time, not being able to help
them, I only wish that I could just die with them."

"I'm so sorry,"
Elgana whispered gently. "I can't imagine how unbearable that
must be. And I truly wish I could help, but I wouldn't be able to.
You see, the Eutrian commanders don't let just anyone go and
dispose of the bodies. I've never had to do it before. I don't
rank high enough for such an important duty. Our base is a large
building, and I don't know where they're kept…" She broke
off, regained her composure, and finished. "I'm sorry I can't
help."

"Could you look for
them, at least?" he entreated. "Find out somehow? For me?"

"I will," she
promised. A tacit understanding passed between them as they stood
there, alone in one of Sephiscon's leafy forests. Finally, Elgana
said, "I should go back."

"Yes," Thor
agreed. "We both should." They held each other once more, which
for them transcended any need for a spoken 'goodbye'. Then each
one retreated back towards their separate vehicles.

"We'll meet again
tomorrow night," Elgana called to Thor as she was getting into her
hovercraft. "Then I'll let you know how I truly feel."

Before the excited
Thor could respond, she was flying off.

Elgana's day was
quite uneventful compared to the events of last night and what she
anticipated for the next night. She was not on active duty so she
stayed at the Eutrian base helping with various tasks. She served her
few hours on guard duty, made some repairs to faulty transport
vehicles, and even had a little bit of free time to herself in which
she would read for leisure and try to forget that they were not at
home on Earth but on Sephiscon and in the midst of a war. Still,
though she tried to ignore the difficult reality, it was too great a
notion to push from her mind and she was continually reminded not
only of the war but of the meeting with Thor that had been arranged
for that night. Once all her work was complete and the day shifted
into night, she was relieved of her guard post and excitedly prepared
to be reunited with Thor.

She had told him as
she left the night before that she would let him know how she felt,
and she still had every intention of doing that. In truth she had
known long before, but had never been able to tell him. However, it
was time for secrecy to end. She would make her move tonight.
Discreetly slipping something into the back of her tunic, she made
sure she was not being followed, slipped once again into the
hovercraft, and sped onward to Thor.

"Elgana!" he cried
out when she arrived. "I'm so glad to see you again!"

"I'm glad to see
you, too," she told him. "I know we just saw each other last
night, but I've been looking forward to this and thinking about you
all day."

"You've
been thinking about me all day?" Thor asked excitedly. "I
can't get you off my mind! Remember what you told me as we
were leaving last night? You said--"

"Yes, Thor, I
remember what I said," she answered. "And I promise I will tell
you." Her heart began to beat faster. "But first…hug me."

"Hug you?" he
asked.

"Yes," she
answered. "Hug me. Like we did last night. Like we've always done
before. I want us to be in each other's arms when I tell you how I
feel."

Thor obeyed gladly,
his heart jumping with anticipation of what her words had implied. He
held Elgana's middle with his two arms and closed his eyes,
relishing the sensation of momentary blissfulness. She returned the
hug with three of her four arms; the other one was working carefully
to get hold of the spear she had hidden in her tunic without Thor
noticing. The task wasn't difficult; he was distracted, closing his
eyes and thinking thoughts of love. The spear was in her hand. In one
swift motion, before Thor could realize what was happening, she
plunged the deadly point deep into his chest. The blade pierced his
skin and Thor fell to the ground, screaming in pain.

The green grass of the
forest soaked up most of the blood. Elgana pulled back and tucked the
spear away, trying to drown out his deafening cries of protest. Loss
of blood was rapid, and she could tell the wound would be fatal. With
whatever energy he had left, Thor managed to transfer excruciating
screams into the last audible words of his life.

"Elgana…why?"

"I'm sorry, Thor,"
she told him, her voice cold and devoid of feeling. "I really did
hate deceiving you this whole time, but once the commanders found out
that I had met you, I was assigned to make sure of your downfall. You
were distracted by love, and so I was the perfect way to get to you.
It would be foolish to pass up a chance at disposing of such a
skilled and promising captain. It's like I told you yesterday: I
know where my loyalties lie, and I'll do whatever is
necessary...for my people, that is. After all, all's fair in love
and war, right?"

Thor made no
discernible answer; she did not expect him to. His body was fatally
near death, but even more so, his heart had crumbled from the bitter
sting of blatant betrayal. She wasn't sure if there was still any
spark of life in the body, but if there was, it wouldn't last long.
Bending down, she picked up the bleeding body and heaved it into the
back of the hovercraft. She would return to base and personally bring
his body to the storehouse for future disposal. After all, she knew
exactly where the bodies were kept and had been to them many times
before.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.